Chatterjack – the podcast that spills the career secrets they forgot to mention in school. Hosted by Lindsay Gray, alongside a crew of curious school and college kids, we grill people with the coolest jobs, weirdest career paths, and unexpected stories about how they got there. No boring lectures, no careers advisors—just real talk, surprising insights, and maybe a few bad jokes along the way. Whether you’re figuring out your future or just nosy about other people’s jobs, we’ve got you covered.
Brought to you by Natterjack Marketing—because podcasting doesn't need to be boring.
"It was like the Wolf of Wall Street - with fish" | Paul Agnew
Paul Agnew never planned a career in fish. As a student in the '90s, he hitchhiked from Carlisle to Maryport to see a girl, got picked up by a fish wagon, and was offered a summer job packing salmon on the spot. He was, by his own admission, pretty rubbish at it. But 34 years later he's back as Managing Director of Grant's Oak Smoked, the high-end smoked salmon company where it all started.
In this episode Paul takes us through one of the squiggliest career paths you'll hear. Dropping out of law (and keeping the cash), running the company's American business, which he reckons was like the Wolf of Wall Street with fish, a spell in post-communist Poland, seven years as a vicar, fifteen years building a Lithuanian multinational's UK arm, and finally a homecoming to Maryport.
Along the way he shares the philosophy that's carried him. Why people come before product, process and profit. Why nobody's "just" a salesperson. Why knowing what's enough is the key to a happy life. And why he'll always make the tea for whoever walks into his office.
We also get into the things that anchor a community. Backing local industry over multinationals, becoming Carlisle United's most unlikely born-again fan, and the £2.2m mission to save the Carlisle Cathedral organ.
Have a listen.
19 Jun 2026
Turns out nuclear is friendlier than you'd think | Miranda Kirschel
Miranda Kirschel MBE never planned a career in nuclear. She wanted to be a dancer. After studying politics and French almost by accident, she temped her way into what's now the Nuclear Industry Association, and ended up spending the next few decades in an industry she'd barely heard of growing up in Cyprus.
In this episode she sits down with us to talk about how she fell into nuclear, why she co-founded Women in Nuclear UK, and what it took to start shifting the dial on women in the sector.
She's honest about the hard parts too, moving to Cumbria, losing her identity as a new mum, and learning how to work again.
We also get into her current mission as Programme Director at ISH, the Industrial Solutions Hub. Plans have just been approved for the Enterprise Campus at Cleator Moor, and Miranda explains what that means for West Cumbria: the clusters, the jobs, the deprivation she wants to help rebalance, and the world-leading innovation already happening here that almost nobody knows about.
Plus, why she reckons nuclear is the friendliest industry you'll ever come across.
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Keep up with Miranda
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/miranda-kirschel-mbe-a0776614/
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11 Jun 2026
How Do You Scale a Business to £15M? | Kurt Canfield
In this episode of the Chatterjack Podcast, we're joined by Kurt Canfield — CEO of Delkia and chairman and owner of Jennings Brewery in Cockermouth.
Kurt tells us how he took Delkia, a systems integration company for the nuclear and defence sector, from half a million in turnover and loss-making to a projected £20 million this year, employing around 130 people across two sites.
He breaks down what the work actually involves, why the growth was by design rather than by accident, and what "getting over the hills" really means when you're building a business in a remote corner of Cumbria.
We also get into his other life running a historic brewery, the apprenticeship vs university debate, and the advice he'd give his younger self — slow down.
Kurt was a brilliant guest with plenty of insight to share, and we hope you enjoy this one as much as we did filming it!
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Follow the Chatterjack Podcast
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chatterjackpod/
Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572474286922
TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@chatterjackpod
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/chatterjack-podcast
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Keep up with Kurt
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurt-c-056a8620/━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Connect with the crew
Lindsay → https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-gray-54638950/
Tom → https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-simmons-134b6121b/
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Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 15 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
18
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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